Expect Montgomery's gas prices to fall in autumn

A customer pays for gas with a credit card at the pump at the United Food n' Fuel Citgo station on Airbase Boulevard Friday, Oct. 9, 2009. (Montgomery Advertiser, David Bundy)(Photo: MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER)Buy Photo

Alabamians may see the lowest gas prices they have seen in any autumn since 2010, according to GasBuddy expert Tom Kloza.

Kloza says the average price of gas is likely to drop under $3 a gallon for the state, and tri-county residents could be paying well below that.

"Alabama and the states adjacent to it could well have average gas prices under $3 through most of autumn," he said. "I don't think it will reach the $2.60 to $2.70 prices that it reached in 2010, but if the average price is $3, people can usually find prices that are considerably lower in individual areas or individual stations.

"Alabama is a very competitive state as far as gas prices."

Prices have already started falling. The current average price of a gallon of gas in the tri-county area on Tuesday was $3.18. That was down 5.4 cents in the past week, and .7 cents since Monday. But that is just the beginning.

Kloza said there are three reasons gas prices are going to keep falling and reach the lowest prices in years:

• The overall price of a barrel of crude oil has dropped more than $15 a barrel, and U.S. production is at a 28-year high.

• Except for California, the rest of the country switches from the more expensive summer gas mix to a cheaper autumn recipe.

• Demand for gas is much lower.

Why is demand lower?

Kloza said it is a variety of reasons.

One is the country's aging population, and another is its changing young population.

"Driving usually declines after age 55 and declines much more drastically after age 65," he said.

"Also, it used to be that as soon as a teenager could, they got their driver's license and started driving as much as they could. For some reason, younger people are not joining in the driving pool like they did in past decades. If I had to guess, I'd say it's because of social media, where now they communicate with friends so often without ever leaving home."

But not only the drivers are different.

"The new vehicles people are driving now are using a lot less gas than older vehicles" he said.